St. Vincent

Ferries operate throughout the day from Bequia to St. Vincent. The one hour ferry journey costs EC$15 per person. St. Vincent is a perfect destination for nature lovers to hike and explore the natural beauty of this volcanic island.

Kingstown
Just a mile or so from E.T. Joshua Airport is the bright and bustling capital - Kingstown. Every week, huge cargo ships dock at the jetty to load the islands' main export - bananas - for the long journey to Europe.

Kingstown market - a real Caribbean market - where you can choose from many varieties of fruits and vegetables: mangos, oranges, lemons, tangerines, pineapples, bananas, breadfruit and more are on offer.

The Kingstown fish market - recently built - will also excite you with its range of kingfish, snapper and grouper.

St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral
Built in 1823, and rebuilt most recently in the 1930s by a Flemish monk, the cathedral displays an amazing mixture of styles, including Moorish, Romanesque, and Georgian, all fashioned out of dark volcanic-sand bricks.

St. George’s Anglican Cathedral
Built in the early 1800s in the Georgian architectural style it features spectacular stained-glass windows, one of which was originally commissioned by Queen Victoria to hang in London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. Eventually the window found its way to Kingstown as a gift to the bishop.

Fort Charlotte Just outside Kingstown, at over 600 feet, is Fort Charlotte, completed by the British in 1806 during their struggle with the French and the Caribs for control of the island. Original canons still wait for action on the battlement and the barracks have been converted into a pictorial museum illustrating the island's colourful history. It is easy to transport yourself back to the last century and to appreciate then location of the Fort, with a commanding view over the sea and the whole south of St. Vincent.

A coastguard lookout post puts this view to good use to this day. On a clear day, you can see as far as Grenada, some 60 miles to the south. Looking north, enjoy the views of the west coast and Mount St. Andrews, the southernmost of the peaks, which form the backbone of St. Vincent. The duty watchman will be pleased to let you use his powerful binoculars to view far off yachts.

The Botanical Gardens
The lovely and extensive Botanical Gardens was first established in 1765 which qualifies it as the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. It features a descendent of the original breadfruit tree brought to the island by Captain Bligh in 1793 and has many ancient and impressive specimens of flowering plants, palms, cycads, and tropical trees. Your Botanical garden guide may pluck leaves from various plants and grasses, and squeeze them to give you a delightful olfactory tour of spice scents bay leaf, camphor, cinnamon, nutmeg, mint, and lemon grass to name a few. You may find it surprising and interesting to see the type of plants from which your kitchen ingredients come!

La Soufriere
St. Vincent's La Sofriere shares with Mount St. Helen (USA) the fame of being the most studied volcano, and is the same explosive type. La Soufriere is a smaller version of Mt. St. Helen. It rises majestically to over 4000 ft and last erupted in April 1979. A tour of La Soufriere volcano takes you along the picturesque windward coast of St. Vincent, through banana and coconut plantations to where foot trail begins, which leads you along steep volcanic ridges verdant with bamboo and other tropical trees. This is a days journey for energetic hikers , who should leave early in the morning, as the ascent to the crater is 3 1/4 miles but is well worth it. The expedition can continue down the west side trail and terminate 10 or 12 miles later in Chateaublair on the leeward (west) side.

Vermont Nature Trails
The trails start near the top of Buccament Valley and lead through tropical rain forest where there is a chance of seeing (or hearing) the St. Vincent Parrot (Amazona Guildingii) and the Whistling Warber both unique to St. Vincent and strictly protected nationally and internationally. This is the habitat for the Black Hawk, Cocoa Thrush, the Crested Humming bird, Red-capped Green Tanager, Green Heron and several other interesting species.

Falls of Baleine
The waterfalls of Baleine at the northern tip of the mainland are a definite must. Cool waters come cascading from the mountaintops to reside in a pool at the base. You can swim in the cool water of this pool and emerge to the exhilarating feeling of balmy breezes caressing your body. Access to the falls and pool is by boat only.

Trinity falls
Three small waterfalls cascade into a pool while a larger cataract empties into another pool below. This is Trinity falls, a giant natural Jacuzzi, the water bubbling with air and the currents swirling around. It is like bathing in fizzy, warm mineral water -very exhilarating.

The Doctor Cecil Cyrus Museum
This museum is a distillation of the life’s work of Dr Cyrus, CMG MCH FRCS, a surgeon, over a period of 40 years in his native St Vincent. Shocked by the untapped ‘clinical goldmine’ of cases of great diversity and grossness, Dr Cyrus began to record them with a succession of humble cameras, as well as starting a pathological museum of tissues removed at operation. This material is now the Dr Cyrus Museum, which was opened in May 2002. Moreover, it provided the material for the publication of his “ A Clinical and Pathological Atlas: The Records of a Surgeon in St Vincent, The West Indies.” It received great reviews in prestigious journals.

The museum consists of two separate sections. The larger consists of medical exhibits housed in 4 rooms, the smaller contains non-medical items.

Vincy Mas
Every year at the end of June St Vincent comes alive for Vincy Mas - carnival. Ten days of non stop music, live bands, calypso, beauty pageants and finally the Mardi Gras costume parade.

It is a riotous colorful occasion. The best day to visit for tourists is Margi Gras. You can join in the fun and revelry or just sit back and take it all in. Carnival photo gallery >

Click on a thumbnail to see full sized image:

Group day charters to Mustique, St. Vincent and the Tobago Cays are available on:

The Friendship Rose traditional 95 foot schooner
e-mail: friendshiprose@mac.com
web: www.friendshiprose.com

Tours of St. Vincent can be arranged through:

Sailor's Wilderness Tours
P.O. Box 684,
Kingstown, St. Vincent
Office Tel: (784) 457-1712
After hours:
(784) 457-9207

Email sailortours@hotmail.com
web: www.sailortours.com

Hazeco Tours:
P.O. Box 325, Kingstown, St. Vincent
Phone (784)-457-8634
Fax (784)-457-8105

Email hazeco@caribsurf.com
web: www.hazecotours.com